Running Down Red
by flyinger123
Summary: Rose Weasley-Ravenclaw,smart, shy, needs to be prefect, quiet, elegant, sad. Scorpius Malfoy-Ravenclaw, smart, loud, golden boy, loved, thoughtful, sad. Dominique Weasley-Grffyndor,brave, misunderstood, judged, misfit, insecure, sad. 3 sad teenagers. 2 love stories. All at 1 school.
1. Unsteady

**Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story.**

 **Song for chapter-Unsteady by X Ambassadors.**

 _Mother, I know_

 _That you're tired of being alone_

 _Dad, I know you're trying_

 _To fight when you feel like flying_

 _But if you love me then don't let go_

 _Hold on to me, cause I'm a little unsteady_

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

It started with a whisper. Hushed voices that could barely be heard through the dark wooden floorboards. And then it grew louder. And louder. The voices got harder, harsher. Then it became shouting. Screaming. A boy runs into the room with his hands pressed against his ears. Tears are streaming down his face and his eyes are pinched up. He's little, maybe 7 years old. He hides under the bed and an older girl holds him in her arms and they fall asleep listening to rain pattering on the attic windows that help drown out the screams and shouting that comes from downstairs.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The first day of school always started the same. Rose woke up to yelling resonating from below her. There at least 3 different voices down there screaming about last minute dilemmas and lost summer homework. Rose's eyes fluttered open. If it weren't for all the screaming, her room would be very peaceful. Sunlight dribbled in from the sunroof and kissed her face and she could see out her windows into the deep misty forest that their cottage was conveniently place in. Rose loved looking out into the shadowy depths. She always wondered what went on underneath the trees where no sunlight hit the ground.

She started to smile a little.

"FUCKING WANKER".

The smile quickly faded from Rose's face. That was probably Hugo.

 _He probably stubbed his toe again, he's always doing that when he doesn't look where he's going._

"RON, WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING? I TOLD YOU THIS BEFORE, THE RIGHT SHOE GOES ON THE RIGHT FOOT, DON'T BE FUCKING BLOODY STUPID." Hermione's annoyed voice screeched in Rose's ears. She rolled her eyes. Mum was always getting worked up about nothing. That's probably where Rose got it from.

"WELL HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW? THE SHOES LOOK THE SAME. THEY'RE KNITTED FOR CHRIST'S SAKE."

Rose sighed into her pillow. It wasn't even 7 AM yet and already there was chaos. She just wished, for even a couple minutes, that her life could be steady. No bumps, no fights, no screaming matches lasting hours into the night. No stress. No worrying about how to be perfect. Rose sighed and rolled over into her pillow. She felt guilty for wanting for steadiness. She was unsteady herself.

BANG BANG BANG.

Rose gave a tiny squeal of fright. She should be used to it by now but it still took her by surprise. She put a hand over her racing heart. "ROSE, YOU UP?" Hugo's voice ran through the attic door. Rose scrambled out of her bed.

"Yes, yes I'm awake," She said.

"LOUDER ROSE I CAN'T HEAR YOU"

Rose made a soft strangled voice in the back of her throat. She hated yelling. She had a softer more delicate voice than the rest of her family. It barely reached above a whisper and everyone always struggled to hear her. It didn't help that she was also terribly shy. She approached the door and pressed her cheek to the door.

"Yes Hugo, I'm awake" She said slightly louder this time.

Hugo grumbled something under his breath that Rose couldn't hear through the door. Then he left, probably to go pack. Hugo had a horrible tendency to leave packing until the very last minute then leave a lot of stuff behind. He was always ridden with mail the first week at Hogwarts because Hermione had to keep on sending him the things he forgot.

Luckily for Hermione, Hugo was the only Weasley kid who was forgetful and a horrible procrastinator. Rose had packed the weekend before-there wasn't much. Rose didn't need a lot to survive: just toiletries, her wand, some clothes, Sasha her pet kitten, school robes and school supplies. Rose had only took a few minutes to pack, the only thing she really cared about were her books and she didn't even need to pack many thanks to Hogwart's massive Library. Her trunk was even half empty this year, unlike her cousin, Lily, who would probably be packing her whole entire room.

Instead of packing books this year, Rose filled the extra space with her nimbus broomstick and quidditch robes-usually she rented from the school but this year she finally saved enough to buy some new robes. See her dad would have bought her whatever quidditch gear Rose wanted no questions asked, but her mum was very strict in the sense that Rose had to earn her right to play quidditch since it was a hobby and therefore not equal to academics. It was also another thing Ron and hermione fought about. They fought about a lot of things.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Downstairs was a complete mess. Hermione was holding Sammy and her hair was frazzled-Hermione's hair only got frizzy when she was a mess. And she was. She had egg yolks in her hair and Sammy was crying. She was also trying to cook breakfast while yelling at Ron who looked clueless trying to put Sammy's shoes on.

"NO! THAT'S THE RIGHT SHOE FOR GOODNESS SAKE RON! YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH THIS TWICE ALREADY AND YOU STILL CAN'T GET IT RIGHT."

Ron looked hurt. "You always dressed Rose and Hugo, why do I have to do it now all of a sudden?"

"Because I'm cooking the breakfast you bloody fool." Hermione quieted down a little. She looked a little sorry for causing Ron to feel bad.

Rose stood silently in the doorway until Hermione spotted Rose from the corner of her eye.

"Rose, thank god. Here take your brother and show your dad how to put his shoes on."

Hermione lowered Sammy into Rose's outstretched arms. Sammy immediately stopped crying and snuggled into the crook of her arm. He then tried to tug a piece of her hair out of her ballerina bun but Rose turned her head before her could.

She hated it when her hair was messy. Instead she rocked him up and down. He went right to sleep. It pleased Rose. How she was the only one in the family who could get him to stop crying. Hermione looked on with a bit of jealousy.

Ron looked amused. "Fucking wanker likes her more than you. I don't blame him though."

Hermione hit him with a dish towel.

Hugo ran into the kitchen, dragging a half packed open trunk with him. Clothes were spilling out and Rose could see a trail of underwear leading up the stairs.

"HAS ANYONE SEEN MY-" Hugo stopped and sniffed. "Hey why does it smell like smoke?"

Hermione looked confused for a moment. It did smell like smoke. Then she shrieked.

"OH NO! THE EGGS." The stove was on fire, hot orange flames leaping up from the burning eggs.

"Aguamenti!" Hermione pointed her wand at the fire. A spout of water splashed from her wand and onto the fire, putting it out but also ruining the eggs in the process.

Hermione looked dejectedly at the eggs and buried her head in her hands.

"Why is it that everytime I try, something always goes wrong?"

Ron rubbed her shoulders affectionately. They were always like this. Going from angry fighting and stressed out parents to ones who were hopelessly in love.

"It's okay 'Mione, the kids'll get something on the train. Right kids?" He gave Hugo and Rose warning looks.

"Course Mum." Rose and Hugo chorused together. Ron smiled at Hugo and winked at Rose. Hermione leaned into Ron gratefully.

"Okay then, let's get going".

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The Hogwarts express almost left without them. Rose hated it. She always liked to be at least 15 minutes early. The rest of her family however, liked to be 15 minutes late. Except Hermione. Hermione always made an obvious effort, but she was horrible at getting Ron and Hugo out the door on time. If it weren't for Rose, who ushered everyone through the door right on time, the family would probably miss the train every single year.

They met up with the Potters and the other Weasley's briefly before going onto the train. Lily Potter squealed when she saw Hugo. They were best friends, being in the same year, house, family, and all. Lily was also a pretty good friend of Rose's, but sometimes she was a little too eccentric for Rose. Well...not eccentric. More like, Lily was a wild child at heart. As in, she could sometimes be kind of a bitch.

"Rose, what's up? How're you doin?" Lily asked grinning widely and snapping her fingers into guns in Rose's direction.

"Oh, I'm doing very well, thank you Lily." Rose replied softly.

Lily nodded. She was used to Rose's formal way of saying...well everything.

James Potter rushed into the scene, his wild hair and handsome face attracting the curious stres and giggles of many young first year girls.

"DAD. DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD." He poked his father every single time he said "dad". And Uncle Harry, yes the one and only Harry Potter, rolled his eyes.

"Yes James?" He said, somewhat sarcastically.

Rose found Uncle Harry hilarious. He was always really sarcastic to everybody and nobody called him out because he was Harry Potter. The Harry Potter. Rose thought the Harry quite enjoyed it. Sometimes when he said something very sarcastic and witty he would smile secretly to himself and if he'd catch Rose looking he'd wink at her. It made her feel rather special.

"Is it true?" James asked excitedly.

Harry looked slightly confused. "Is what true?"

James sighed exasperatedly. He never quite got why people never seemed to be on the same page as him.

"Is it true that there's going to be another ball?"

Rose had heard of the ball. The first one in over 20 years to be held at Hogwarts. It was to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the defeat of Lord Voldemort. The battle had taken place at Hogwarts in 1998 and it was 2023 now. Rose was entering her 6th year art Hogwarts. What better way to kick it off with a ball? Too bad she hated them. Too many people all sweating and talking in the same room. It made her feel nauseous just to think about it.

"So?" James asked again.

Harry nodded. "Yes there will be a ball this year."

James shouted in glee and began to spin around. "Yes! This is literally the most perfect year for this to happen. I'm quidditch captain for Gryffindor and now I finally have an awesome place to take Sophie out!"

Ginny shook her head at her son, her sleek red hair becoming untucked from behind her ears. "Just remember, your Dad and I will also be there for the ball."

James stopped short mid-twirl. "Wha?"

Harry smirked. Rose giggled softly.

"Mione and I will also be there." Ron put an arm around Hermione's waist and pulled her close. She looked lovingly up at him.

"Ew gross." Hugo wrinkled his nose. Ron ruffled his hair. The adults then began talking among themselves, leaving the kids to discuss matters among themselves.

Lucy Weasley, another one of Rose's cousins sighed. Lucy was also a gryffindor 7th year like James and they were also very close like Lily and Hugo. Lucy was more of a dreamer though.

"I wish I could go." She said wistfully. James looked at her like she was crazy.

"Why wouldn't you be going?"

Lucy frowned. "I don't have a date and you're going with Sophie and I really don't feel like going alone." Lucy was almost as shy as Rose was. Not quite as much, but almost.

James looked at her crestfallen. "Oh." He said quietly and Rose knew he felt guilty. "Well maybe you can join along?" Lucy looked skeptical. "And have Sophie be annoyed with me for the rest of the year no thank you." Sophie was James's bitchy girlfriend that no one liked. She also hated Lucy with a burning passion. It was hard for James to maneuver around it but he did. That was the problem with James. He tried to make everyone happy and in the end everyone including himself ended up miserable.

"Don't be silly Lucy. You'll come with me and Rose." Lily said.

Rose looked sharply at Lily. "Oh I'm not"

"Do not say you aren't going Rose. I'm dragging you whether you like it or not. Rose opened her mouth.

"I….well I…" She struggled to find the right words "I suppose that I..." She licked her lips. She was going to make something up. Maybe as excuse like prefect duties or quidditch practice would do. But then she remembered that the whole school would be there so there was no getting out of it. She didn't finish her sentence though because the warning bell rang out for boarding the train and parents crowded around their children to say goodbye.

Ron pulled her in for a hug, "Do me proud Rose. And remember. Beat Malfoy on every test."

Ron always said that before she went on the train. It had become a tradition during first year when he had said it to Rose in front of her family. Now he said it as a joke.

"Of course Dad." She kissed him on both cheeks then pecked one on her mum's cheek as well.

Then she lifted her trunk and boarded the train.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Rose always sat with her best friend. Yes, she had friends if you didn't know. Three friends. One best friend and 2 other friends who were best friends with each other.

Gabriella Wood was a 6th year Ravenclaw just like Rose. The two had first met in the Ravenclaw dorms when they roomed together. Their beds were right next to each other and they had roomed together ever since. They hadn't immediately clicked though. In fact it took Gabby several weeks to crack through Rose's shell. But now that they were friends they told each other almost everything. Or at least Gabby told Rose everything. There was still a lot Rose kept to herself.

They always met by the same compartment. Third door down from the eight car. Miranda, Ariel, Gabby, and Rose always hung out in that compartment. Rose had even put a confounding charm around it so that anyone who got near it would turn in the opposite direction if it wasn't occupied. Just in case they didn't claim it in time.

Gabby shrieked when she saw Rose. She threw her long arms around her pulled her in for a hug. Rose awkwardly patted Gabby's long blonde hair that was flowing everywhere.

"Hey Gabbs," She said.

"Rose! It's so great to see you. We have so much to talk about. Here sit down."

Gabby dragged Rose over to the seats and pulled her down next to her. Gabby always got very excited on the first day of school. Actually, she got very excited over everything. It was something about her that tired Rose, but also made her smile at times.

Ariel Chang and Miranda Air were also there. Ariel was a pretty girl with a petit frame-though not as short or slim as Rose- and had delicate asian features and long brown hair. Her father was a wizard from America and her mother had actually attended Hogwarts the a year above Rose's parents.

Miranda was just a wispy little thing. She was easily the shortest, thinnest girl in the whole entire year. Black hair and tan skin with almond eyes also made her the subject of many boys conversations. She was just as sophisticated as Rose and looked like even the slightest gust of wind could blow her away. She was also the school's best quidditch beater which earned her a lot of respect from other houses other than Ravenclaw.

When Rose had arrived, Miranda and Ariel were deep in conversation, but stopped when she had entered the compartment.

Miranda grinned widely. "If it isn't the famous Rose Weasley, joining us at last!"

It was a joke among the girls. They knew how Rose hated being the last one there; she always was on the first day so they always made fun of her for it.

"Well, I got held up on the landing. Talking to James about the ball." Rose said, her voice barely reaching above a whisper. Miranda's smile faded. Rose knew Miranda had a crush on her cousin.

"So uh." Miranda's voice had gotten a little strangled, "Is he taking Sophie?" Miranda's dark eyes flooded with sadness because she already knew the answer.

Rose nodded. "Sorry." She said softly and she meant it. Miranda looked down dejectedly and Gabby and Ariel each put an hand on her arm in comfort.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. Gabby slept with her head in Rose's lap and Ariel and Miranda played exploding snap. Rose didn't have anything else to do so she just read Hamlet again until she had to leave for the prefect meeting.

Ariel wrinkled her nose when Rose told her where she was going. Prefects were respected but also disliked at the same time by Hogwarts students. This was Rose's second year of being a prefect and to be honest, she absolutely loved it. She loved walking around at night by herself or with her patrol partner Winter, a now 7th year Hufflepuff whom Rose was politely acquainted with, she loved having the castle all to herself and being able to stay out after hours. She loved having access to the restricted area in the library **(I know this isn't a prefect privilege in the books but it is 25 years later so I made some changes)** and she loved drawing up timetables of patrol schedules and detention lists.

She didn't actually like docking points or giving out detentions, it was just fun to schedule everything. Gabby always said Rose was off her bloody rocker whenever she talked about how being a prefect was actually pretty fun. But Gabby hated responsibility and enjoyed being in detention rather than organising it so it was understandable.

Rose reached the prefect compartment and let herself in quietly. She was early as always. She sat down in one of the wooden chairs around a large round table. She sat for maybe around ten minutes, admiring the intricate carved designs on a piece of furniture until the first couple prefects started spilling in.

There were 24 prefects in all. 2 from each house in 5th year, 6th year, and 7th year each pair consisting of a boy in a girl. Rose was the 6th year Ravenclaw girl prefect. Then there were the head. The head girl this year was Alyssa Finch, a 7th year Hufflepuff with a huge smile and friendly face. Head boy was Spencer Zambini, a very tall 7th year Slytherin with dark swishy hair tan skin, and a jawline that could cut diamonds. He was also in love with Alyssa. Like, very in love. It was funny because she was also very oblivious. Like, very oblivious. To be fair, Spencer was very dark and brooding so he wasn't very good at getting his feelings across. Still, it was funny for the rest of the prefects to watch as Spencer literally handed his heart on a silver platter to Alyssa and her rejecting him without even knowing it every. single. time.

Alyssa clapped her hands twice to signal silence. All the prefects had been talking amongst each other, except Rose. She didn't have any friends in her prefect group and she wasn't in the mood for small talk.

"Welcome guys, I hope you all had an amazing summer break." Alyssa smiled, flashing white teeth that contrasted with her toffee colored skin and hair. Rose liked it when Alyssa smiled because you could always tell that Alyssa meant it. She really did hope that your summer break was amazing.

"So, to start off I want to welcome our newbies." She gestured to the new 5th year prefects. The prefect system was organised so that every year there would be ⅓ new people and ⅔ of old people. Everyone clapped for the new prefects. It was feeble clapping because no one really cared, but Alyssa still remained enthusiastic.

"Anyway, let's get down to business. Spencer, do you want to start off with some changer this year?" She smiled back at Spencer. This was another thing Rose liked about Alyssa. She always called everyone by their first names. Unless you were a Potter or Weasley (There were too many to use last names), you were referred to by last name by peers. Friends were different of course, but the rule of the last name was pretty much unanimous. Only a couple of students actually broke that unspoken rule, Alyssa and Rose both being two of them. Rose just didn't see the logic of calling someone by their last name. It was stupid.

Spencer stood up next to Alyssa. Their height difference was tremendous and Rose stifled a giggle.

"Um, so yeah. There are going to be a lot of differences this year in the scheduling. So last year we had patrols and all the other activities with partners and it'll happen this year but we are putting a stop to the inter-house partnerships."

A murmur of groans and sighs broke out across the room, one of them being Rose's. Winter was the only one she really knew and she didn't want to have to pair up with one of the other 5 prefects in Ravenclaw.

Spencer was getting nervous, Rose could tell because he was wringing his hands. He always did that when he got nervous.

Alyssa saw this and jumped in for him, "Look guys, I know you're disappointed and I'm really happy that you guys are so close but last year there were so many complaints from quidditch captains about practicing and having to work around 6 different prefect schedules. So many of you are needed on the pitch and we thought maybe if we made the partners all the same house, the captains will have more room to breath and schedules practices around your guys' prefect duties."

Rose shrugged. "Okay. Let's do it." She said. It made sense. Now the captains only had to worry about 3 times not being open for practice rather than 6 or however many people were on the team.

Alyssa, who was sitting right next to Rose and therefore able to to hear her voice, grinned widely at Rose. Probably because Rose almost never talked during the meetings. Or during anything really.

"See, Rose agrees with me." Alyssa gestured to Rose and everyone turned to looked at her.

She felt a horrid blush coming on. She always turned a bright bright red whenever she got embarrassed. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and looked down at the table while simultaneously tucking her hands under her thighs and biting her lip. She hated it when people stared.

Alyssa seemed to be a bit guilty for putting Rose on the spot and she quickly changed the subject.

"Anyway, your partners are going to be posted on the boards after the meeting ends. So yeah. Also, sorry I totally forgot. We are also handing out paperwork about things that are banned and what to do in certain situations and stuff. But this is only for the newbies. Oldies know what to do so you guys can all leave. See you later." She waved energetically and 16 out of the 26 people in the roomed went to crowd around the doors to see who their partners were for patrols. Rose waited until most of the group was cleared out. She didn't like getting smashed against people when it was avoidable.

She fingered the list, looking for her name. Oh, she had the 11 o'clock night shift in the towers on Wednesday and Thursday nights. She had that shift last year and she loved it.

And she was partnered with-oh. Oh. No. No that wouldn't do at all.

Rose frowned and bit her lip. Scorpius Malfoy? She hardly knew him. Well, actually she knew him quite well, but she didn't know him in a friendly way. Like...she never really talked to him. Well she did. Sometimes. They were classmates. Actually they talked quite a lot. Whatever, it didn't matter.

She just didn't want to do patrol with him. Anyone else but him.

Here's why she didn't want to do patrol with Scorpius Malfoy:

1\. He was best friends with James. Yes. James. The Gryffindor quidditch captain and her cousin. It was funny because Scorpius was a year younger than James. At least school wise. He was actually one of the oldest in their year. He was turning 17 at the end of the year while Rose, the youngest in the year, was turning 16 in February. Anyway, They became friends on the first day of Scorpius's first year and now they were inseparable. In fact, most of Scorpius's friends were 7th years. He just gave off an older, mature vibe that they liked. At least that's what Rose thought.

2\. He wasn't like other boys in their year. He was mature. See above. He was also quidditch captain of the Ravenclaw team, the youngest to be in over 3 decades. That's why they talked quite a lot. Because Rose was a chaser and he was the captain and he had to talk to her and vice versa. But that did not mean that they were friends. No, they were definitely not friends. At all.

3\. He was good at quidditch. See above.

4\. All the girls in the school had a crush on him. Even Professor Mcgonagall had a soft spot for him. He was one of the school's golden boys. Seriously if he, James, Spencer, and Albus all got together and formed a cult, they would probably get the whole entire school falling over their feet to do their bidding. Maybe it was his good looks and charming charisma or maybe it was his convincing voice that could literally make anyone do exactly what he wanted. Rose didn't know. But she didn't like it. At all.

5\. He was very smart. Second best in the class. Next to Rose of course. She beat him in every test. But he was catching up quickly and that scared her.

6\. He was nice. Like Alyssa, he was one of those few people who smiled and meant it. And you could tell he meant it. He was never mean to anyone. Ever. And whenever a girl he didn't like tried to go with him, he let her down easy and was so gentle about it. It made Rose angry. How could someone be so nice and so smart and so talented? It wasn't even fair.

7\. He was confident.

Long story short, Rose did not want to spend 6 hours a week with Scorpius. No she definitely did not want to. Argh, but she had too. It was going to be a long year.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The rest of the ride the Hogwarts was uneventful. Literally, nothing else happened. When they finally got to Hogwarts, the feast was waiting for them. Rose looked forward to the feast every single year. She liked it because of the sorting. She loved seeing the hat being dropped on every student's head and deciding where the student would go. She liked it because there was no influence on what the hat chose for you.

See a lot of kids thought the hat just chose kids based on legacies and parentage. Rose had heard that when her father had first gotten sorted the hat had shouted, "HA! ANOTHER WEASLEY! I KNOW JUST WHERE TO PUT YOU!", and then proceeded to put him in Gryffindor. But Ron had always said that the sorting hat wouldn't put you in a house unless you truly belonged there. Or unless you picked it. Ron belonged in Gryffindor and that was why he was sorted into it.

Rose remembered when she was first sorted into Ravenclaw. She finally felt independent. She made her own friends. She was the only Potter Weasley child that wasn't in Gryffindor. You heard that right. Out of all her numerous cousins, all the children and extended family of the Potter and Weasley's, Rose was the only one not in Gryffindor. And she loved it. Sometimes her family suffocated her and she loved being able to get away from them, even if she always went back to them in the end. They just made her a little unsteady when she was around them. She never quite fit in.

Anyway, sorting was fun and every single time a new boy or girl was sorted into Ravenclaw,

Gabby squealed in Rose's ear causing her to giggle and slap Gabby and tell her to calm down.

Later, after the feast and after sorting out trunk and getting ready for bed, Rose, Gabby, Ariel, and Miranda pushed their dorm beds together and lay underneath the covers pressed up against one another. It was the closest to someone that Rose had ever felt, giggling underneath bedsheets like schoolgirls. She quite liked it.

"So," Ariel adjusted herself so that she was lying on her stomach with her head resting on her hands and her elbows digging into her mattress. "I was talking today with Freya."

Gabby groaned. "Not Freya." Rose stifled a giggle. Freya was in Ravenclaw in their year but she wasn't very smart.

See, Gabby had a theory. See everyone always talks about how Hufflepuff just takes the leftovers and the kids who aren't smart, ambiguous, or brave. But that's not true. The kind-hearted and loyal go to Hufflepuff. So Freya couldn't go to Hufflepuff because she wasn't kind-hearted….or loyal. She also wasn't brave. At all. Or cunning and ambiguous. And even though she also wasn't smart, the thing about being smart is that a lot of people can fake it. You just have to memorize and study a lot and you can be smart. It's the love of learning that Ravenclaw is really supposed to be about. But since there were those special cases of people who didn't fit in anywhere, they were stuck in Ravenclaw. Perhaps the sorting hat thought that some of the environment would rub off on them? So it wasn't Hufflepuff that took all the misfits, it was actually Ravenclaw. Because you can always learn facts to be smart, but you can't learn to be kind. You either are or you aren't. Sure, some people can change. But that usually takes a traumatic life experience. Like what Draco Malfoy went through or something. And Freya certainly wasn't changing anytime soon.

Speaking of Malfoys Rose was dreading having to go to patrol with Scorpius tomorrow night. Sighing internally, she pushed the unwanted thought into the back of her mind and concentrated on the conversation.

"Argh, I know I really shouldn't be mean, but I can't help it. She literally told me that my eyes looks like slits. That's so mean and I'm half asian and she keeps calling me fake Chinese. Like fasion of something weird. Like, that's not even valid, I still identify as Chinese. She's so inconsiderate. She's the one with the fake tan trying to copy Miranda" Ariel gestured to Miranda's pretty tan skin.

Gabby snorted. "Please, don't worry about being mean to Freya. She can take it. She deserves it. Did you know she told me once that my hair was fake? My hair. Fake. Can you believe it? It's totally natural." Gabby gestured to her wild golden waves.

Miranda giggled. "Yes Gabby, you literally remind us like, every day."

Gabby frowned, "What no I don't. Do I? Rose?" She looked at Rose.

Rose shrugged and grinned sheepishly. Gabby glared. "You're supposed to back me up. Whatever. I know I brag a lot about my hair, but I do really like it." She fingered her locks lovingly.

Miranda sighed. "You guys are so lucky. You all have nice hair and mine sucks." She fingered her straight black hair that went down to her waist. Rose was pretty sure that Miranda was of Filipino descent and her hair went really well with her tan.

Miranda continued, "I know it goes with me and it's nice and all. But it sucks because I can never do anything with it. I can't braid it because it's so slippery, I can't curl it because it's so heavy, and I can't cut it because it I do it'll stand straight up and make me look like a freaking hippogriff." She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

Gabby and Ariel immediately began consoling her about her hair and Rose self-consciously touched her own auburn hair. It was still in it's big bun that took up almost half her head. The only time she ever took it down was to rebraid it and put it up again. She had never left it down in all her 6 years at Hogwarts. She didn't even know why. She just felt weird when it was down. She wondered what it would feel like to look different for just once. Would she feel pretty? Like Gabby-she was always doing crazy things to herself and changing the curl and shape of her hair. Rose wished she'd had the confidence to do that. But she also got the feeling that no one would really notice or care.

Miranda huffed air through her nose.

"Whatever, I'm over it. Let's talk about something else. How was the prefect's meeting today?"

Rose shrugged. "It was okay", She said.

Gabby frowned, her features deeply shadowed by the dim light in the room.

"You don't sound very excited. Well, less excited than usually anyway."

Rose rolled onto her stomach, "Yeah I'm not. The whole schedule has changed this year and I'm not too happy about it."

"Oh yeah that sucks." Mirandal kicked her foot over the side of the bed and when it came up there was a bag of strawberry gummies clenched between her toes.

"Look what I brought!" Gabby squealed and grabbed the bag.

Miranda was a muggleborn and she always brought back muggle candy from America.

Gabby stuffed a couple of gummies into her mouth and groaned.

"Oh, I forgot what these taste like."

Ariel snatched the bag away, "Hey share!" She grabbed a couple then tossed the bag onto the covers where she, Gabby, and Miranda snuck out pieces from it until it was finished.

Rose didn't take any. Instead she rested her head on Gabby's shoulder and fell asleep to soft giggles of Ariel and Miranda and an occasional snort from Gabby.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The next day started with a bang. Literally. Turned out, Ariel fell out of the bed. She crashed onto the floor, bringing the sheets and Miranda with her. Gabby screamed.

Rose sat up groggily.

Miranda and Ariel were on the floor struggling.

Gabby groaned and held her head. "Argh, going to sleep at 3 in the morning was not a good idea. Rose you are so lucky you fell asleep at 1."

Rose shook her head. "Well I have prefect duties so I'll see you later."

She got up from the bed and left Miranda and Ariel, who were just getting off the floor, and Gabby, who was braiding her hair.

Rose threw on her robes and went to the bathroom to freshen up. She applied some magic sunscreen to prevent from getting freckles-her whole family was blessed with them and Rose detested them. She liked her skin to be clear. Perfect. Untouched. Free of the scattered dots that she hated. The only problem was she got them every single time she stepped into the sun. Hence the sunscreen.

Anyway, Rose was early to breakfast. She always was. She liked eating when there was almost no one in the Great Hall. Today, the Hall's ceiling was enchanted to look as if there was a arch of flowers extending from the head where the teachers sat, all the way to the end doors.

Rose grabbed an apple from a fruit platter and took a couple of bites. She was one of the only people at the Ravenclaw table. There were even fewer students at the other house tables. Gryffindor only had 3 students eating toast sluggishly. They were all late sleepers. Rose chewed on her apple slowly then looked down at it nonchalantly. It had lost it's flavor after a couple bites. It tasted like nail polish remover. She dropped it on the table.

She was about to pour herself a glass of water but was then interrupted by a pair of hands slapping over her eyes.

"Guess who?" A sing-song voice coed in her ear.

"Lily, stop it." Rose sat perfectly still as Lily removed her hands and sat down next to Rose.

"So, how's my favorite Ravenclaw cousin?" Rose rolled her eyes.

"I'm your only Ravenclaw cousin."

Lily smiled. "Exactly...although, I guess that makes you my least favorite Ravenclaw cousin as well."

"Lily, why are you even up so early?" Lily was probably one of the heaviest, latest sleepers that Rose knew and it was rare to see her up so early.

Lily's eyebrows rose. "Oh, no reason. None at all." Lily's voice suddenly became high-pitched and tight.

Rose sucked in a soft breath and held in for a moment. She knew exactly what this was about.

Rose bit her lip. Hard. She braced herself for whatever was about to happen.

Then she said, "So what it is that's bothering you?" She looked down at her apple then back up at Lily who was shifting in anticipation in her seat.

Lily, "It's nothing. Why would you think something is bothering me?" Lily looked panicked.

"Well, I just...well I. I just kind of assumed, you know?" Rose fiddled with the apple in her hand. She hated when these conversations got awkward.

"Well there's nothing bothering me so I don't really know what you're talking about." Lily shook her head. She was also shaking her leg vigorously under the table.

Rose bit her lip hard. She knew that Lily wanted desperately to tell her something important. Everyone in the family always went to her for this kind of stuff. She was quiet and gave good advice. And they knew she would never tell anyone. Rose was invisible to her family unless someone had a problem. Then she was showered with groaning cousins and various other family members who just needed her advice or someone to listen to.

Rose always tried her best to help out her family, but sometimes it was very taxing. Especially last year when James and Albus got into a huge fight and she spent 2 entire months listening to each of them bitch like little children to her about the other one.

Lily usually came to Rose about boys or school help. Rose suspected that this time it was boys. Probably from the way Lily's eyes kept shifting over to the Slytherin table and she kept ringing her fingers.

"Well, I'd better get going." Rose made to stand up, even though there was still half an hour till class. "I'll see you at-"

"I had sex with Zambini."

Rose tripped back into her seat.

She opened her mouth. Then closed it. Then opened it again.

Rose bit her lip. Hard. Then she spoke. "Okay." It sounded shaky.

"Okay. Okay. Okay."

"Enough with the okays! You're making me nervous." Lily looked on the verge of tears.

Rose sighed. "I'm sorry." She said quietly.

Lily groaned frustratedly. "So tell me what to do. I mean, I don't even like him in that way."

Rose made a small strangled noise in the back of her throat. It wasn't fair. Not to Theodore. He was perfectly nice and he was also in love with Lily. It was horrible that she led him along and only to break his heart.

"You have to tell him the truth."

Lily snorted. Her face looked more annoyed than sad. "What truth? I had sex with him because I felt like it and now he's following me around. He thinks he means something I can't tell him he doesn't."

Rose shook her head. "Why?"

Lily looked up at the ceiling, "Um, because he's friends with literally all the hot Slytherin boys? And he can me firewhiskey. Seriously, if I break it off right now I'm not going to be able to supply for any of the Gryffindor parties and Albus will kill me. He's relying on me to help him out this year ever since his stash got busted last year by Creevy."

Rose couldn't believe her ears. It was like Lily's words were registering but they seemed detached, as if they weren't coming from Lily Potter the person Rose grew up with. Rose suddenly felt sad, she felt like crying. She didn't cry though. Instead she bit her lip. Hard. To keep herself from being sad. She had to be happy. Because if she wasn't happy, then they'd realize that Rose's perfect life wasn't very perfect and then everything would be ruined.

"Okay then don't tell him."

Lily nodded slowly.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Rose, thanks so much. You give the best bloody advice ever! I gotta go. Bye!" Lily threw her arms around Rose for a second then ran off.

Rose bit her lip. Hard.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

 **A/N I know you all are expecting a Scorose story and it is. But I also want this story to be about Rose. Her insecurities, her life, her friends. So Scorpius will have the POV of the next chapter and Rose is going to be in his thoughts a lot more just because he already likes her a lot. But just because this is a Scorose story does not mean that this story will center around the ship and it's not going to happen very quickly at all. But give it time and I'm hoping this'll develop into what I've been imagining.**


	2. Drop the Game

**Song for chapter: Drop The Game by Flume and Chet Faker**

 _Hush, I said there's more to life than rush_

 _Not gonna leave this place with us_

 _Drop the game, it's not enough_

 _I've been seeing all, I've been seeing your soul_

 _Give me things that I've wanted to know_

 _Tell me things that you've done_

 _I've been feeling old, I've been feeling cold_

 _You're the heat that I know_

 _Listen, you are my sun_

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

James Potter was 99.7% sure he was going to die this year. Actually no, make that 100% sure. See there. It was official. He was going to die. God, he could feel it happening right at that moment. He could literally feel his soul being sucked out of him.

"OhmyGod, I'm going to _die_." He said it disbelievingly. He was only 17. Well, and a half. But back to the point. He wasn't ready to die. He'd barely even started his life. James sighed.

"I'm going to die." This time he said it in acceptance. It was time for him to leave this Earth. It was fate. Besides, now that he had accepted his fate he could spend the rest of his year making up for lost time.

"ARGH, I'M GOING TO DIE."

"JAMES SHUT YOUR BLOODY MOUTH YOU ARE NOT GOING TO DIE." Scorpius Malfoy threw down his book and stared at the drama queen in front of him lying on the couch in the Gryffindor common room.

James, who was sprawled rather dramatically across a red and gold blanket adorned couch, shifted his position so that his arms flopped onto the couch's sides in an over exaggerated manner.

"I'm going to die Scorp. Just accept it. Don't try and prevent it either. It'll just end up in your demise as well." He said miserably from his spot on the couch.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "No offense James, but I don't think that forgetting to buy your girlfriend a birthday present is really going to kill you."

James groaned. "How did I forget Sophie's birthday? She reminded me like fifty-hundred times."

Scorpius shrugged and adjusted his glasses thoughtfully, "Look mate, I don't mean to butt-into your relationship or anything, but…" Scorpius hesitated. James saw his hesitation and skeptical expression and frowned.

"What? Scorpius tell me." James whined. He knew Scorpius hated when he whined.

"Well, I just don't think Sophie's the right girl for you." Scorpius looked cautiously at James's face to see what kind of reaction he would have.

James snorted. "Why on Earth would you think Sophie's not the right girl for me?"

Scorpius took off his wire-rimmed glasses and folded them up into his shirt pocket. He rubbed his eyes.

"Look James. Sophie's a great girl. I'm sure. Just not great for you. She's….well flighty. And she's gone with almost every guy in our year. Which is not a bad thing but you are a settler and she's not so your personalities don't really go together. Plus you hate Freya who is her best friend. When you hate her best friend that's not very good for a relationship. Plus Sophie... well she doesn't like quidditch mate. I don't even need to explain that. And if you can't even remember her birthday after her reminding you so much just shows you aren't as invested as you thought you were."

Scorpius was glad he could finally give his thought on Sophie to James. Of course he had to sugarcoat it, conveniently leaving out the fact that he thought Sophie was a backstabbing two faced wanker who had tried to sleep with him twice...While she was dating James.

James however remained unswayed by Scorpius's remarks.

"Look, I know you don't like her. It's just, I'm in love with her. At least I think I do. Even if I'm not I don't want to throw away my relationship because of one rocky patch. I just...you have to know what it feels like. If you were in love you'd understand." James stared wistfully into the fireplace that was crackling. The planes of his angular face contrasted with his curly hair that flopped into his face.

Scorpius shook his head. James was wrong. Scorpius did know what it felt like to be in love. James just hadn't noticed yet. Hadn't noticed for the last 3 bloody years. Scorpius understood very perfectly what it felt like to love someone. And James had it all wrong. He was not in love with Sophie. At all.

"Whatever you say mate." Scorpius shrugged. James sighed and flopped into a different position on the couch.

"So, how was your break?" Scorpius casually changed the subject.

James lit up, "Oh it was great. I went to America to see the World Cup. It was should've come. I could have gotten you a ticket."

Scorpius made a face. "I wish I could have gone too but I was doing that internship at the Ministry."

James sat up from the couch. "Oh yeah, how was that? Rose was doing one too, but hers was in New York, not London."

Scorpius's heart skipped a beat at Rose's name but he remained casual, "It was great. Boring though. I'm definitely not going into a Ministry job."

James shook his head, "Yeah, I already have that ruled out. I think I want to go into magical creatures. I'm really good at that kind of stuff plus this is my last year and I've been getting a lot of offers for jobs."

Scorpius had almost forgotten that James wasn't his age. Scorpius was 16 turning 17 in about a month or so while James was a year older. The age gap didn't stop their friendship though. They were practically inseparable.

Scorpius was just about to answer James when the portrait hole opened and Albus, James's younger brother walked in.

"Ey, what's up guys?" Albus was lugging his huge bag and he hauled it onto a study table next to the couch James was on.

"Oh nothing Al. Just talking about plans after school and stuff. You?" James looked up at his brother.

Al groaned. "I'm loaded with schoolwork. 6th year barely even started. It's been half a day and I'm already barely passing potions. Rose is getting here in a couple minutes to tutor me."

Scorpius's head shot up at Rose's name and Albus raised his eyes skeptically at Scorpius. Then, as if he could read Scorpius's mind, Albus smirked and gave Scorpius a little wink. Scorpius clenched his teeth at looked down at his hands.

James, clueless to what had just transpired pulled out a couple strands of sour strings and began chewing on them.

"Well, that sucks. 7th year isn't as bad and oh hey Rose!" James nodded to the portrait hole and Scorpius turned to look. His breath caught.

She was there. Standing. Looking adorably awkward. There were books clutched to her chests and a blush coated her cheeks. Her auburn hair was knotted in the back of head as usually but strands were loose and came down to frame her face. She was beautiful and Scorpius felt his heart begin to beat 3 times his normal pace.

Albus, who had also turned to face Rose, grinned widely.

"Ro, right on time."

Rose's eyes widened as she took in everyone in the room and she sucked in a breath. Scorpius knew she did that when she was nervous. She also bit her lip. Scorpius grinned. He couldn't help it. He loved that she was nervous.

"Hey Rose." He said nodding to her.

Rose raised her left shoulder to her ear in a half shrug. It looked more like a squirm. She was very nervous. Scorpius's grin widened.

"Hello." It sounded airy and cool, just like her voice always was. Formal, cold, soft, elegant.

Scorpius melted a little on the inside.

"So how are you?" Scorpius asked her, looking directly at her doe-like blue eyes.

She looked away and her porcelain skin flushed slightly. Scorpius didn't break his intense stare. She shifted nervously and played with the book covers clutched in her arms.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking. How are you?" She didn't look at him. She addressed the floor.

"I'm great. Excited for this year actually. I can't wait for quidditch."

Rose bit her lip. "Yes, quidditch." She was still looking at the ground and she said it slowly, like she was dreading it.

"Yes, I'm actually holding tryouts this Friday. You should come since you're on the team. Your input would be appreciated."

Rose's shy blue eyes looked up to meet his own intelligent grey ones and she seemed happy that Scorpius had invited her to the tryouts.

She bowed her head slightly so that her neck arched gracefully and her eyes faced her folded hands, "Well then, I'll be there."

Scorpius's heart fluttered.

Albus muttered something under his breath. Scorpius had almost forgotten he was in the room.

"So Ro, should we start studying?" Rose nodded slowly.

"Yes, I suppose we should." She said quietly. She walked over to the wooden table and put down some of the books she was carrying.

Scorpius could see the profile of her body from where he was sitting on his chair. The firelight was glinting off her skin that was so pale, she almost seemed translucent. Her neck was arched gracefully as her head bent down to read one of Al's essays. Her arms held a scroll of paper gently and the grey dress was just snug enough that he could see where her figure curved subtly underneath. He could almost feel the heat radiating off her from across the room. He could _feel_ her presence. As if he were connected to her in some way. His heart suddenly felt tight. He was supposed to be the boy whom everyone loved and knew. He was the boy who had life easy and could get any girl her wanted. The boy who was perfect. Yet the girl he wanted more than anyone in the world wasn't his. She barely even acknowledged him. So then why did Scorpius feel so in tune with her? At that moment, Scorpius was glad he couldn't blush because God he was 110% sure he was in love with Rose Weasley.

 **Scorpius's chapters will be short. Rose's chapters will be a lot longer. Next chapter is either Dominique or Rose. IDK. I might add in Lily.**


	3. Make You Miss Me

**Song for Chapter- Make You Miss Me by Sam Hunt**

 _You're cold and hot_

 _You burn out like a match_

 _Keep a slip knot and the strings you attach_

 _You think it's easy, but that's a lie_

 _The only reason that you're good at goodbye is_

 _Every boy you ever met was too easy to forget_

 _Well, I ain't going out like that_

 _I ain't gonna be that easy to leave_

 _Whoa whoa_

 _Girl, I'm gonna make you miss me_

 _Make you wish that you were sleeping in my shirt_

 _Lie about my jacket and tell everyone it's yours_

 _When your phone rings after midnight and you're thinking maybe it's me_

 _I'm gonna make you miss me_

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Dominique Weasley was a heartbreaker. She went through boys the same speed some girls went through lipgloss. Being in her 6th year at Hogwarts, Dominique had already left a trail of broken hearts that spanned from skinny undeveloped fourth year boys to burly grown seventh year men, everyone of them claiming to be hopelessly in love with her.

Truth was, Dominique was burning out. She used to be a fiery tough Grffyndor girl who played quidditch and competed for the 3rd best grades in her year (next to Rose and Malfoy of course). She was one of the golden girls. Then in the beginning of fourth year, something terrible and inevitable happened. Dominique fell in love. She fell in hopelessly love with her best friend. Her best friend in the entire world. The boy who was supposed to be her best mate. The boy who was supposed to be her best man at her wedding. The boy whose wedding she would be a bridesmaid at. The boy who was marrying her sister in just 2 months.

Dominique Weasley was hopelessly, deeply, and 100% completely in love with Teddy Lupin. Dominique remembered when she had first realized. She was so confused. How could she be in loved with a boy who was three years her elder? A boy who still looked at her like a little girl. A boy who was helplessly in love with her older, beautiful, talented, amazing sister that everyone loved to death. Yes, Victoire Weasley was absolutely adored by everyone. She charmed the pants off the Minister when she met him and she charmed Teddy into marrying her. Dominique couldn't blame him. Victoire was perfect. Dominique couldn't even hate Victoire for stealing Teddy. She loved Victoire. Victoire was the best older sister ever. She was nice, she talked about boys with Dominique, she was supportive of her decisions, she _wanted_ things for Dominique. And of course she had to love Victoire because of it. She couldn't hate her. She just couldn't.

But that HATE. It had to go somewhere. Anywhere. She needed to hate something. Someone. Not Teddy, not Victoire. So that hate went to herself. Dominique quit quidditch. She wasn't even that good anyway. She stopped competing for grades. She would never be smarter than Rose anyway. She hated that she was never good enough. She was never the best. The top. She hated that she fell in love with Teddy. She hated it so much, she went around with every single guy she met in her age range to try and convince herself that she could fall for someone else. She gave her virginity away like it meant nothing because maybe if she gave it away to someone who wasn't him, who wasn't the person she loved, maybe she would finally be able to fall out of love and in love with that person. That didn't work. And she tried. Again and again and again. She would keep trying. Until it went away. The pain she felt. She wanted it gone. She wanted it away from herself. She didn't wanted that pain in her life.

It didn't work. She spent all of 5th year dyeing her brown hair blonde and listening to Teddy and Victoire gush about the other one to her.

God, she missed him. She had never missed anyone liked she missed him. And she felt awful every time she went home during break and she saw them together. So she stopped going home for break. She went to friend's houses. Well, not friends. More like, friends who didn't have parents who were home a lot so they invited he over to party. She didn't think of them as friends though. They were just...there.

She kept her mask on though. No one suspected a thing. Except maybe Rose. Dominique had always suspected that Rose knew things she wasn't supposed to know. Like last year she knew the whole time where Albus stored his booze yet he had never showed her. And she knew that Dominique had been taking pills to make her vomit. She had vanished them halfway through exam week and Dominique had cried in her arms for what seemed like hours. Rose had helped her up off the girl's bathroom tiled floor on the first floor. Moaning Myrtle had watched quietly from her stall as Rose gently washed Dominique's face with towels. Then she left Dominique sitting on a toilet seat to think about her awful situation. Rose hadn't said a single word throughout the whole ordeal.

It was funny, Dominique was falling apart. She was loosing it. And the very person she thought of the least had helped her the most. And now that person was falling apart too. Dominique knew. Rose Weasley wouldn't be catching her anytime soon because she was falling as well.

So the summer before 6th year, she stopped dyeing her hair blonde. She let freckles blemish her skin and she told herself that she didn't care whether her skin was porcelain like Victoire's. She became Dominique. However, no matter how hard she tried to convince herself that she had gotten over Teddy, she couldn't seem to shake out that feeling. The one with the butterflies. The one she got whenever she saw him.

Dominique was together and apart at the same time. She was falling in reverse. She was a hurricane waiting to happen.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Dominique sighed. It was a light sigh. Feathery. Soft. Full of longing. It left her lips and greeted the air, a spray of cleanliness into the dusty old classroom she was sitting in. Her chin was resting in her palm, fingertips grazing her lips. She stared dreamily out the window, at the leaves blowing by.

It was the second day of school and the class was waiting for the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. The school was still going through them like Dumbledore used to go through lemon drops. Dominique wasn't very excited. She had had her fair share of creepy, weird, and frankly, not very good DADA teachers in her past years at Hogwarts. Granted, there were a few ones that were okay. Like that middle-aged woman who had taken over halfway through in her second year. The old teacher had to be hospitalized because he had ridden his broom into a wall. Anyway she was cool. She had let the students make spit balls and magically project them at each other.

The new teacher however, was supposed to be very good. Dominique didn't care very much, but according to some of the other students, the teacher was an older woman in her late 60s. She had fought in both wars, been a part of the Order of the Phoenix (Both the old and new one), and she was also bringing along a very young, very HOT young teaching assistant. Who happened to be male. It was safe to say every single girl in the room was whispering about it.

Dominique continued to stare out the window with her doe-like brown eyes. Her hair feathered around her, dropping in beachy waves to her waist. She felt relaxed. At peace. Rose was sitting next to her. The two were desk partners. Rose didn't talk very much so she didn't bother Dominique. In fact, Dominque had a rising suspicion that Rose was also staring out the window. She was too lazy to look and see if she was though. She didn't move her eyes from the leaves floating around outside.

The doors opened and the sound of two pairs of feet followed by a hushed silence entered the room. Dominique didn't move.

A teacher clapped their hands and a raspy voice yelled, "Welcome!" There was a dramatic pause. "To Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Dominique didn't move her hand or her head, but she allowed her eyes to drift away from the window and to the head of the classroom. There was a woman standing in from of the big green chalkboard. Her hands were clasped and she had slightly graying hair. She looked young for someone in her 60s, time had been kind to her. She wore dark blue wizarding robes and her face was free of makeup, small elfish feature gracing a petit face.

"Hello class. My name is Diana Ramund but you may all call me Miss Diana. I am your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. This is my son, and my assistant, William." She gestured to a person behind her and Dominique heard a chorus of giggles and "I told you so"s break out across the room. Dominique still hadn't moved her position but she was able to see the man whom everyone seemed to have a new obsession with.

Why, he was just a boy. He was handsome. Dominique had to give him that. He was however, extremely young. He couldn't have been more that 20 years old. He was tall, well over 6 feet. He had dark eyes. He looked like the really broody type. Short caramel colored hair just brushed the tips of his ears and he stood with his feet apart and his hand held confidently behind his back. He surveyed the class with that look. Intimidating, ruthless, dark, sexy even.

All the girl started fidgeting and giggling. The boys rolled their eyes.

Then, he smiled. Everyone seemed surprised. Dominique heard Carla Warren whisper to Cynthia Stein, "Wow, he looks so nice. Like in a good way."

She was right. He had crinkles in his eyes, meaning he smiled a lot and he also had a set of dimples. He looked like a really caring, all around nice guy.

Dominique couldn't care less. She was already in love with someone else.

William nodded to the class, "You can call me Will." He had an accent that Dominique couldn't quite place. It was subtle. Maybe Welsh? Irish? She couldn't tell.

"His voice is so sexy." Dominique rolled her eyes at Carla's whispering voice, but she silently agreed. Then she looked back to the window. The sun was blocked by heavy rain clouds and a ghost of a smile graced Dominique's lips. She hoped it stormed. She knew Rose in the seat next to her was also secretly hoping it would storm too. Then maybe they could walk through the rain together. They did that sometimes. Without saying a word. Rose sometimes held her hand. Dominique liked it. It was soothing.

"-duce yourselves by saying your name, age, and the name of your best friend." Dominique had zoned out but vaguely heard Miss Diana talking. She didn't take her eyes off the window but kept her ears open, hearing all the students stand up and announce their names, ages (Which ranged from 15-17 because they were 6th years), and best friends. Dominique thought it was stupid. Why best friend? Who even want to know that kind of stuff? Whatever.

Rose stood up next to her. Her voice was quiet, like it usually was. Dominique found it confusing. Rose barely spoke above a whisper, yet for some reason whenever she talked, people listened. Rose probably didn't notice it, people listened to her no matter what. Maybe because Rose barely talked so when she did, it was important. But it was the unimportant things that people listened to too. For example, this stupid thing. No one was paying attention before to people's ages, names, and best friends. No one cared. But as soon as Rose stood up, the whole room quieted. No side conversations or whispers. Every single eye was on Rose.

"My name is Rose Weasley." The way she pronounced her s's were soothing. Everything she said was like a caress.

"I am 15 years old. My best friend is Gabriella Wood." She sat down, not making a sound, unlike all the others who had made awful screeching when they pushed their seats back in.

Dominique knew it was her turn but she didn't feel like getting up. The clouds outside were getting darker. She was waiting for lightning. Her eyelids were heavy. She tuned out everything that was going on around her. She knew the teacher was probably asking her what was going on.

 _She might even loose her temper_ Dominique thought quietly to herself. She would find it very amusing if that happened.

She lost track of how long she had been staring out the window. Was it minutes? A couple seconds? She didn't know. Maybe class was over. Maybe it was the next day already. Dominique didn't know. She just kept her head rested in her palm, her nails folded underneath her chin.

Then she felt it. A cool hand on her arm. Rose.

Then, "Dom. _Please._ "

Dominique was back. "Excuse me, young lady. Sorry to interrupt your daydreaming, I would just like to know your name, your age, and the name of your best friend." Miss Diane's voice was gentle and understanding, but had an edge to it that was loosing it's patience. Dominique wondered how many times she had called her, wondering why she hadn't responded. She almost smiled.

She stood up. Not looking away from the window. Her eyes stared out in longing. She was waiting for lightning.

"My name is Dominique Weasley." She still didn't look away from the window.  
"I'm 16 years old." Her voice sounded sad. Why did it sound so sad? "My best friend is-" A flash of lighting. So quick. So sudden. Dominque gasped sharply in the middle of her sentence. Breathtaking. She started counting.

 _one, two, three, four, five_

BOOM! There it was. The thunder. Rain came pouring down. Dominique's eyes fluttered in ecstasy.

She swayed for a moment, her knees felt weak all of a sudden. She jerked her head to face the classroom. She wondered what she looked like. Probably crazy. Her eyes were wide and she looked like she was dreaming. She looked dazzled. She felt so happy for a second. Her eyes landed on Miss Diana's and Will's faces. The sadness came rushing back. She blinked. Slowly, like she was waking out of a daze.

Her voice was clear but sounded airy and bittersweet "My best friend friend is Teddy Lupin."

Her head was cold. She felt dizzy. There was a sound like rushing water. Her vision started to go blurry around the edges. She felt lightheaded. When was the last time she had eaten? She couldn't even remember. She had skipped breakfast. And Dinner the previous. And lunch as well. Dominque couldn't remember. She tried. She heard someone saying something. Was it the boy? Will. He sounded worried. It sounded like, "Are you okay?"

Dominique fell sideways, into Rose's outstretched arms. They crumpled together to the floor. Dominique's head in Rose's lap. She had a perfect view of the storm brewing outside from the floor. She closed her eyes. Everything went black.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Dominique blinked rapidly. She was lying on something soft. She sat up. She had been lying on Rose's...lap?

She frowned. God, she had a splitting headache. She turned to face Rose, a hand pressed to her temple. Rose was sitting criss cross on the floor. She looked at Dominique with sad eyes. Dominique sighed. She was suddenly aware of a throng of people circled around her. Black robes. Worried faces swimming together. She suddenly couldn't breath.

"P-please." Dominique gasped out. She stood shakily to her feet and stumbled to the window. It was still storming. She promptly threw open the window and hurled up clear watery vomit out the window. When her head came back in her hair was soaking wet and she was shivering.

She wondered how long she had been out for.

Miss Diana's face came into Dominique's blurry view. She looked distressed.

Dominique choked on air, "I don't." Her eyes fluttered. "I don't feel well."

Miss Diana licked her lips."Oh dear. Okay." She seemed to be debating something. "Okay. Okay. Will, I need you to take this girl to the hospital wing." Dominique swayed. She gripped the window ledge and breathed deeply, trying to inhale the wind. She loved the wind. Water was getting in. Soaking her robes. It was cold. She shivered.

She felt a pair arm strong arms wrap around her waist. They tried to pull her away from the window. She held on with all her strength. She heard a grunt as she was pulled away from the window ledge. Her hands hung limply at her side. She gasped from the lack of support for a second then was scooped up bridal style in the same pair of arms that had separated her from the ledge.

She shivered. She fell asleep.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Dominique woke up in the hospital wing. She was dry. She felt...tired. But she was always tired.

The hospital wing was white. And pristine. And surprisingly, not bad. Lights hung from fixtures on the walls and there were windows everywhere. Of course Dominique had been in the hospital wing before, but she had never seen it so early in the day.

"Well, you're awake."

Dominique inhaled sharply and looked to her right. She sat up, leaning on her arm. Will, Miss Diana's assistant and son was sitting in a chair next to her. He had a book in his hand but he didn't seem to be reading it. Instead he was watching her.

Dominique wondered how long he had been doing that. Watching her.

She blushed.

"What are you doing here?" Her voice was raspy and low.

Will raised his eyebrows. "You fainted. In class. Do you remember that?"

Dominique stared.

Will frowned. "Wow. Okay. You don't remember. That's pretty bad. Maybe I should go get-"

"No. No I remember." Dominique licked her lips. God, she was so thirsty. She needed a glass of water. Will seemed to read her mind because he had poured a glass from a jug on her bedside table and had it in her hands before she could even get a word out.

She chugged it down gratefully.

"Thanks."

Will nodded. "So, what happened."

Dominique frowned. "What do you mean?" She knew exactly what he meant.

"You know exactly what I mean." Dominique sighed and lay back down on the bed so that she was completely flat on the mattress and looking up at the high ceiling.

"I wasn't feeling well."

Will shook his head. He really was handsome.

"Do you expect me to believe that?"

Dominique nodded.

Will chuckled. "Um, look. I get it. I'm an assistant teacher and all so you don't want to tell me because you think you'll get in trouble. But you should know me first before you judge. I'm 19. I moved here from Ireland when I was 11 years old and I'm training to become an auror. Actually I'm in your best friend Teddy Lupin's class. Funnily enough I consider him my best friend."

Dominique shot up in her bed.

"What!" Her huge eyes widened to be even huger. She was breathing heavily.

Will looked at her and smirked. "You're the famous Dominique Weasley I guess."

Dominique looked at him then down at her folded hands.

"Yes. Yes I am."

 **Pretty short chapter next will be multiple POVS. Also IDK how old Teddy is but in the fic, he is 19 and Dominique is 16. Rose is 15 turning 16 and Scorpius is 16 turning 17. It all has to do with cutoffs and stuff. But they are all in 6th year. I'm sorry if this is really depressing by the way. Dominique is a lot like Rose but her issues are different. I want to build up a relationship between Rose and Dom where Rose is practical and scared of risks while Dom is a dreamer, but both girls relate to each other and have similar qualities etc. But IDk. We'll see what happens.**


	4. Skinny Love

**Song for Chapter: Skinny Love by Birdy**

 _Come on skinny love just last the year,_

 _Pour a little salt we were never here_

 _My my my, my my my, my-my-my my-my.._

 _Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer._

 _Tell my love to wreck it all,_

 _Cut out all the ropes and let me fall,_

 _My my my, my my my, my-my-my my-my..._

 _Right in the moment this order's tall._

 _And I told you to be patient,_

 _And I told you to be fine,_

 _And I told you to be balanced,_

 _And I told you to be kind,_

 _And in the morning I'll be with you,_

 _But it will be a different kind,_

 _'Cause I'll be holding all the tickets,_

 _And you'll be owning all the fines._

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Rose was pacing. She walked all the way from one end of the corridor to the other. See, she was waiting. For Scorpius to show up for night patrol. She had told Scorpius the 6th corridor right? Yes, she specifically remembered mentioning it to him

She glanced at her watch frustratedly. 10:59. He had 2 minutes before he was late. Rose stopped walking and looked into a glass window. It was completely dark outside and she could see her faint reflection on the dirty surface. Pieces of of her hair had fell out from her bun and were sticking up around her face. Her eyes were wide. She looked scared, frazzled.

Rose bit her lips and smoothed down her fly-aways. She needed to pull herself together.

She looked at her watch. 11:00 P.M. 60 more seconds and he was late. Rose desperately wanted him to be late.

But of course he wouldn't be late. He was Scorpius Malfoy. Golden boy. He would be right one time as always.

Rose heard footsteps approaching her from behind. She clenched her eyes shut, knowing that there was no going back now. She inhaled deeply.

 _Get your shit together_

She straightened her dress. It was blue and her mother had bought it for her. She wore it so much that the blue color was starting to fade. She smoothed it down, making sure she looked presentable. Then she turned abruptly around to face Scorpius.

The first thought that ran through her mind was, he was very close. As in, very very close. As in so close she could feel his breath on her collarbone. He was less a foot away from her and his hand was raised, he had probably been about to tap her should when she turned around. He seemed to notice her looking at his raised hand and he quickly folded his hands behind his back, looking a bit sheepish.

"Um, hi." Scorpius smiled his lopsided smile and Rose felt an awful feeling burst into her stomach. She didn't like it. Not one bit.

She bit her lip. Hard. But the feeling wouldn't go away. She felt like she was going to be sick.

"Hello." She bowed her head in greeting.

Scorpius looked at his watch. "So should we get going?"

Rose nodded. "Yes of course."

They began to walk down the deserted corridor. They fell effortlessly into perfect step. Rose hated that it was so easy.

The tension between them was one thousand times more awkward than she had ever imagined.

They walked past through the seventh floor, locking and checking all the classrooms. Scorpius was the one to finally break the silence. "So how is Dominique?" Rose had almost forgotten he had been there. He seemed more than just curious. Like he genuinely cared about Dom. It made Rose feel...weird.

"She is fine. I checked in with her an hour ago."

Scorpius nodded. "So what happened, do you know or?"

Rose winced. She hadn't meant to but she always felt awful when she thought about Dominque and her...situation. "I don't." She lied easily through her lips.

Scorpius wasn't convinced. His brow creased in the middle like they always did when he was suspicious. They both knew she was lying. However, he let it drop.

They passed numerous corridors, checking to make sure there were no lurking students around. They didn't speak again but Rose could feel Scorpius snatching glances at her when she wasn't looking. She studied him too. She wasn't sure why. Maybe because she thought she would find a flaw. Everyone has a flaw. Rose found many flaws in Scorpius, but it wasn't fair. His 'flaws' complimented him. She...liked his imperfections. They made him stand out. She decided that she liked his glasses. They made him look intelligent and they complimented his grey eyes. She liked that he was very tall. He towered over her, almost two full heads. She liked that he was skinny but muscular. She liked how long and elegant his fingers were. She liked the sharp planes of his face. She liked his smile.

He was handsome, there was no doubt about it. But he was also Rose decided she wanted to draw him. Her fingers were just itching too.

...But she couldn't. Rose reminded herself that Scorpius Malfoy was a danger to her. He disrupted her life. He made her frazzled. Rose hated when things weren't perfect. She needed things to be perfect. Being frazzled made her miss things. And missing things disrupted he plan. She was on track. On schedule. Her perfectly planned life was falling into place. Scorpius Malfoy had no room in that life.

Rose's stomach clenched and she suddenly felt very sad. She felt sad very often these days. But feeling sad wasn't part of the plan. So she pushed all thoughts of sadness away. She concentrated on her prefect duties. They fit into the plan.

They were 15 minutes to being done when Scorpius laid a hand on Rose's arm. Rose flinched but he didn't seemed to notice. She could feel his hand on her arm, burning into her skin. She could feel every finger, resting lightly, gently on her. She felt like her heart was in her chest. A lump rose up in her throat and she swallowed. Hard.

"Did you hear that?"

Scorpius face was in a light frown and his hair was falling in his face. Usually he ran his hand through his hair to keep it out of the way. Rose noticed that he did that when he was concentrating-he let his hair fall into his face and he didn't push it back. He did it all the time during tests...

"There it was again!" Rose heard what Scorpius was talking about. A faint sound was coming from down the corridor.

Scorpius began walking briskly towards the sound, Rose trying to keep up and failing. Scorpius had long legs and she was quite literally half his height.

They were hurrying down the a hallway when Scorpius stopped walking abruptly and Rose ran into him by accident. She gave a soft squeal as she started to fall. Scorpius inhaled sharply and quickly caught Rose around her waist before she could go down. Rose took a shaky breath. She could feel his hands around her waist. They pressed gently into the thing fabric uniform she was wearing and she was caught for a moment as his startled eyes locked with her wide ones. She gazed up at him for a second. Blue against grey.

Then out of nowhere, Rose heard a moan. It was coming from a classroom door.

Then she slipped out of the embrace. This was ridiculous. She needed to get a grip.

She didn't hear the frustrated sigh Scorpius let out or see his clench his jaw and glance longingly in her direction.

Instead she softly clicked the door open. She slipped inside. She could hear Scorpius softly following her. She felt around in the dark for a moment before she found a light switch. She flipped it, causing the old-fashioned lights hanging from the ceiling to flicker on.

Rose gasped as she took in the scene before her. A blush spread across her cheeks. There in the middle of the classroom, propped on a desk, was Lily Potter and Theodore Zambini. They were doing the deed. Well not quite. Theodore still had his pants on and Lily had a dress on, but they seemed very close to whatever it is that horny teenagers do in abandoned classrooms and Rose knew that if she had walked in a few moments later...ew she tried to push that thought out of her head.

Scorpius cleared his throat. Rose looked back at him. He looked rather calm. He wasn't blushing at all. How did he not feel embarrassed? One of his best mates and her cousin going at it in a classroom and him being the one to find them? It was awkward as hell.

Lily looked over at Scorpius when he cleared his throat and shock registered onto her face when she realized Scorpius and Rose's presence. She pushed Theodore back into a chair where he protested but then caught sight of Scorpius and Rose.

Theodore grinned loosely.

"Ey mate." Scorpius shook his head. "Really Theo?"

Lily was entirely red in the cheeks. She looked to be on the verge of tears. She wouldn't look at Scorpius.

Theodore bit his lip. "Sorry Scor. You know how it is." He smirked.

Scorpius shook his head. "Actually I don't but that's not the point. The point is: I'm going to have to give you a detention."

Theo scoffed but Rose knew that he would agree. Theo was an honest guy. "Aw okay. Darn, I thought you guys checked this hallway already."

Scorpius grinned. "We did."

Theo frowned. "Then how..." he looked at Lily. "Oh. Okay. Well, I guess I'll report for detention tomorrow. See you Scor. Lils. Rose." He kissed Lily quickly on the cheek, she wouldn't look at him either, and did that bro-hug thing with Scorpius. He was about to pull Rose in for a hug as well, but stopped last minute. He kissed her on the cheek as well. He smelled like Lily's perfume. Rose smiled. She liked Theo. He was nice.

"Goodnight." She whispered. Theo saluted her.

Lily had gotten off the desk and was walking dejectedly towards the door. She was so red she looked like a lobster.

Rose caught Lily's wrist before she could leave.

Lily was taller than Rose by at least 5 inches, but she still shriveled under Rose's neutral stare. Rose had a talent for making someone squirm without having to put in much effort.

"I need to talk to you later." Rose whispered lowly. She was not going to let Lily break Theo's heart.

Lily sighed in frustration. "Fine. Whatever." She yanked her arm back and walked around Scorpius, not looking at him. She slammed the door shut.

Scorpius looked at Rose, who was resting her head in her hands. She dared not look at him. She knew her face was completely red. Scorpius just place a hand on her back and guided her out of the room. His hand dropped hesitantly and flicked the light switch off. Rose took her hands off her face and crossed them over her stomach.

They didn't say a word on the way back.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Scorpius Malfoy walked with Rose back to the Ravenclaw tower. It was late and she seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. When they got to Ravenclaw tower, Rose knocked on the door. The door hummed in response. It sounded like it was waking up. Rose let out a soft giggle. Her bit her lip then. She seemed embarrassed that she had laughed. Scorpius grinned.

"What goes up but never comes down." Rose's eyebrows crinkled up for a second then her face cleared. "Age!"

She smiled when the door opened to let her in. Scorpius followed her in. There were only a couple of people in the common room. Older 7th years studying for NEWTS. Rose was walking up the stairs when she stopped abruptly.

She spun around so that her arm was holding on to the banister behind her. She looked rather shy. God, was she blushing? "Goodnight." She said it quietly, low. Barely a sound. Scorpius looked up at her, standing on the stairs looking nervous as hell.

"Goodnight." He replied quietly. He tilted his head so that it aligned with hers and he smiled lightly. She looked relieved and turned to walk up the stairs soundlessly.

When Scorpius arrived in his room, his roommates were still not asleep. Scorpius rolled his eyes and lay down on his bed after getting ready. Of course they weren't asleep. It was Lorcan fucking Scamander. Lorcan Scamander loved spending his evenings talking. He talked literally non-stop. **(A/N any Hamilton fans?)** About everything. Girls, school teachers, quidditch. He loved to talk. He was a nice enough boy but Scorpius found him deathly annoying. His brother Lysander was much quieter and therefore more agreeable.

At the moment, Lorcan and Scorpius's two other roommates were talking about girls. They were making the list.

God the list. Every single year Lorcan made a list of the forty hottest girls in the school. It was funny watching him debate it out with Sam and Thomas. Lysander was already sleeping but some years he would even join in. Scorpius refrained. He didn't care about the list. He already had someone in mind.

"Dominique isn't number one anymore. She gotten so skinny it's weird. Last year she was so hot. I mean, she still is but I like girls with a little more curve." Thomas pulled a 'sexy' face and wiggled fingers back and forth prompting a laugh from Sam. He then put Dominique's name into the number 3 slot.

Lorcan shrugged. "Well, I think she's smoking. Ey, you know who really developed over the summer? Lily Potter."

Sam whistled. "Damn. You're right. I'd like to bang her. I heard she's slept with a lot of people. Maybe if I get alone I can convince her to do me."

Thomas snorted. "In your dreams man. Besides, isn't she really mean. That's what I heard."

Scorpius watched from his bed as Sam wrote Lily's name under the 5th slot. He proceeded to write Gabriella Wood under the fourth slot and Ariel Chang into the 7th. Miranda Air went into 6th and Sophie, James's girlfriend went into the 10th space.

Scorpius sighed deeply. Merlin, his roommates were idiots. Now, why didn't he stop them? Oh yes, because Scorpius knew that every single girl who went on that list or didn't go on that list didn't care about it and would not give either of the 3 boys the time of day. It always cracked Scorpius up that his roommates made this list because they had too much time and no lives.

"So who's number one this year?" Asked Sam. He was chewing on a toothpick, shredding it into tiny bits.

Thomas scoffed, "Well that's obvious isn't it? Rose Weasley."

Scorpius's ears perked up and he suddenly felt a weird sensation flow up all the way to his face.

He remained still however. He was curious. He wanted to hear this.

Lorcan scoffed. "I mean. Yeah, she's got a nice body. Very nice. But...it's almost like she's too…." Lorcan frowned and made a gesture with his hand. The feeling in Scorpius's chest tightened. "Elegant. She's too elegant to be hot."

Scorpius felt his heart begin to beat very fast. Sam nodded. "I think she's more beautiful than hot."

Scorpius knew what the feeling in his chest was. Anger. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. Scorpius clenched his fist around one of his bedsheets. They were jerks and she was perfect and...well.

Well.

They weren't supposed to go for her. Scorpius buried his head in his pillow. She was something real. She was something pure and they weren't allowed to ruin her. No one was.

Scorpius unclenched his fists and sighed in defeat. Even himself.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Dominque refused to talk. No. There was no way in hell that she would open up her mouth to this..why this…

"imbecile!"

"You think I'm an imbecile?" Will crossed his arms and smirked humorously. Dominique realized that she had spoken aloud. Dominique rolled her eyes and looked down at the line in the bedsheets that settled around her body. She was getting skinny. That made her happy.

Will had kept on trying to talk to her after she told him she was Dominique Weasley. He kept trying to make small talk about the weather-it was beautiful out, the storm had stopped- and classes-he asked her if she liked DADA and what she thought of his mother. And Teddy. He asked her about Teddy. How she knew him, childhood memories, embarrassing stories.

Dominique never answered any of his questions. She studied the pictures on the walls instead-there were quidditch players and families with arms around each other, famous people who went to Hogwarts all proper and haughty, and notable healers framed up on the white walls.

"Look, I'm sorry. You don't want to talk to me I get it. But can we just, I don't know. Start over?"

She was studied a particular picture of a young male quidditch player with only one arm. He was a chaser and he was smiling brightly at the camera all handsome like with white sparkling teeth and hair in his eyes.

"Please?"

Dominique sighed and rolled over so that she faced Will. He looked younger than 19. His face was boyish in the daylight and he looked worried. She found that cute. He was worried about her. It almost made her smile.

"Okay." She said it really quietly. Will heard her though and a smile bloomed onto his face.

"Okay. Um, hi. My name is William Ramund. I'm 19 years old and it's an absolute pleasure to meet you." His smile was so big it brightened the whole room.

"My father's name is William." Dominque said quietly. Her hair was stretched across the pillow from when she rolled over and she was looking at at him sideways with quiet eyes.

Will half smiled half smirked, his smile becoming lopsided and twisted into a sly expression, "Well it's a fine name. I bet he's a fine man."

Dominique nodded. She reached a freckled arm from under her blankets to rest underneath her cheek.

Will's smile had faded and he was staring at her. He seemed almost sad.

"So what's your deal."

Dominque shrugged. "I don't have one."

Will nodded and said sarcastically, "Yeah I'm just expected to believe that."

Dominique closed her eyes. She was so tired.

"I was tired. I fainted because I hadn't gotten any sleep and I was late to breakfast and only had a piece of cheese to eat." This was all a big fat lie. Good thing Dominique was a good liar.

"You are a lousy liar." Dominique's eyes snapped open and looked in shock at Will.

"I am not." Dominique sounded insulted.

Will grinned, "So you admit you're lying?"

Dominique groaned in frustration and rolled onto her back. "No. Now shut up you wanker."

Will stood up, "Okay. I'll shut up. But only because I have to help out my mother with her afternoon classes. I expect answers when I get back. And get some sleep. Those circles underneath your eyes can't be a sign of healthy sleeping patterns."

He patted her head and left the room leaving Dominique thoroughly confused. She stayed still for a moment, replaying the scene in her head. Then she groaned. Seriously? A pat? On her head? Yet another adult who saw her as a confused innocent helpless child.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Scorpius had no idea how he ended up in the Ravenclaw common room every single night. It started with him staring at the ceiling for what seemed like hours. Then Thomas would start to snore and he would listen to that, counting the snores. Then he would recite poetry in his head to himself. Then he would get bored. He couldn't fall asleep. So after all else failed he would creep silently down to the common room and sit on a window seat made from stone. He'd read books sometimes. Or he'd stare outside where the moonlight hit the trees and shone through the huge pointed window onto the massive bookshelves that lay scattered throughout the room. Sometimes he would lay on a couch, it's raw silk underneath his skin. The common room was always cold. Hardwood floors icy from being up so high. The fireplace was never on. Dark shadows crowed the room at night and Scorpius felt small in the spacious room with all the fancy furniture. He liked the Gryffindor common room better. It was cozy and there were blankets. Scorpius liked the warm rugs that adorned the room and the homy decorations.

Scorpius was currently sitting on the window seat, his back resting against the wall and his legs reaching the other wall. He had a book in his hands but he wasn't reading. He instead stared at the ceiling which was dome-shaped and had a huge map of all the different constellations. He had memorized the entire thing. He could tell you where every single constellation lied in relation to all the others.

He adjusted his glasses, they were slipping down his nose. He was about to get up and move to the couch when he heard a sound. Scorpius sat up.

There it was again. It was the sound of bare feet slapping against stone.

Scorpius was about to stand up when a figure appeared at the entrance of the girls dormitory stairs. The figure paused.

"Malfoy?" A high feminine voice pierced through the darkness.

Scorpius frowned when he realized who it was, "Miranda?"

Miranda stepped into the moonlight hesitantly.

"Yeah it's me. What are you doing up so late?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

Miranda walked over nervously. She was feeling rather awkward but wanted to get to know Scorpius. He was James's best friend and she was pretty sure he like Rose. She sat down on the window seat beside Scorpius.

"I couldn't sleep."

Scorpius nodded. "Yeah I gathered." He paused. "Why couldn't you sleep?"

Miranda shrugged, her hair falling over her fleece pajama clad shoulder.

"I'd rather not say."

"Okay."

"Why can't you sleep?"

Scorpius shrugged imitating Miranda. "I'd rather not say." He grinned.

"I didn't know you were so sassy." Miranda sighed huffily, thinking that he was handsome when he grinned. Hell he was handsome when he wasn't grinning. She could see why so many girls liked him. She felt the sudden want to be friends with him. He seemed so nice and warm and friendly. She wanted to tell him her problems. He seemed like the kind of person who would listen. He was like Rose in a way. But Rose was distant. Sometimes Miranda felt as if Rose didn't care, she was colder and seemed so sad all the time. Miranda hated burdening Rose with her problems.

Scorpius winked slyly, but not in a flirty way. In a I-want-to-make-you-laugh kind of way. "It's all part of the charm. It gets all the ladies if you must know."

He succeeded because Miranda laughed quietly.

"You sound like James," She said. Then her cheeks colored quickly and she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

Scorpius tsked softly, still with that soft grin on his face. "Please, I don't sound like James. James sounds like me. He just gets the credit because he's more obnoxious than I am."

Miranda sighed sadly. "I wouldn't know."

Scorpius sighed and adjusted his glasses. "Go to sleep Miranda."

He said it as if he were looking out for her. As if he wanted to protect her from the heartbreak she felt every single time she saw him with Sophie.

Miranda nodded and stood up. She was at the base of the stairs when Scorpius called out.

"He's a fool. I wouldn't wait around. There are so many amazing guys here who would have you. You're talented and beautiful and you shouldn't have to feel like crap about yourself just because the one guy you like is blinded by a complete bimbo with fake tans."

Miranda turned. Scorpius was staring at her with his wide grey eyes.

"I've waited for James for years now and I'll probably spend the rest of my Hogwarts years waiting around. You can't tell me to move on. You're such a hypocrite. You've been in love with Rose for how long? 4 years now? You know how it feels. You can't just move on."

Scorpius looked taken aback. "I'm not in love with-"

"Save it." Miranda said quietly. "We both know it's true."

Scorpius locked his jaw and looked at Miranda for a moment before he sighed.

"We're both in an unfortunate situation aren't we."

Miranda leaned against the stairwell wall.

"Yeah."

"Look, I can try to make him see sense. I'll break them up if you want. I hate Sophie. And I like you. I honestly wouldn't mind doing it. I've wanted to push her off the astronomy tower for years now but that's illegal."

Miranda snorted, "I'd probably come visit you in Azkaban if you did. Look, don't break them up. Just...just put in a good work for me maybe? Talk about me when he's around? That'd be nice. I can help you out too?"

Scorpius shook his head. "No, I'm good."

Miranda shrugged, "Okay."

Scorpius nodded, "Okay."


	5. i hate u, i love u

Song for chapter: i hate u, i love u by gnash and Olivia O'Brien

A/N: This is an amazing song and you guys should really listen to it. I've been obsessed and I've literally been listening to this non-stop for the past 3 months. It's probably one of my favorite songs of all time and it really relates to the characters! You should either listen before or after reading or if you're good at multitasking you can read and listen. I listened to this song non-stop the whole time I was writing.

I miss you when I can't sleep

Or right after coffee

Or right when I can't eat

I miss you in my front seat

Still got sand in my sweaters

From nights we don't remember

Do you miss me like I miss you?

I don't mean no harm

I just miss you on my arm

Wedding bells were just alarms

Caution tape around my heart

You ever wonder what we could have been?

You said you wouldn't and you fucking did

Lie to me, lie with me, get your fucking fix

Now all my drinks and all my feelings are all fucking mixed

Always missing people that I shouldn't be missing

Sometimes you gotta burn some bridges just to create some distance

I know that I control my thoughts and I should stop reminiscing

But I learned from my dad that it's good to have feelings

When love and trust are gone

I guess this is moving on

Everyone I do right does me wrong

So every lonely night I sing this song

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"So, how are your classes so far?" Gabby asked cautiously. Today was a bad day. At least, she thought it was a bad day. Rose's bad days were always spontaneous and out of the blue.

"They're fine." Her response was curt and strained.

She was right. It was a bad day.

"Okay. That's good." They walked to the great hall in silence, Gabby stealing subtle looks at Rose, who was staring determinably straight ahead.

"Hey Ro!" A familiar soft voice pushed through the wall of silence and over Gabby's shoulder and a soft, hand reached over and grabbed Rose's shoulder lightly, long fingers splayed across her crisp white collared Hogwarts uniform.

Gabby's heart skipped a beat and she swallowed quickly. She forced herself not to look to her left at all costs."That's my cue to leave." She said quietly into Rose's ear. She quickly disappeared down the hall, but not before looking back and locking her own dark blue eyes with the bright green orbs that belonged to Albus Potter.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Rose watched Albus watch Gabby leave, an unreadable expression on his face. Albus sighed softly and gripped Rose's shoulder tightly. She flinched and he snapped out of his daze and frowned, quickly dropping his hand from Rose's shoulder and resting it instead on her back.

"You ready?" Rose rested her chin on his shoulder and looking at his profile. She was planning on drawing him later after she tutored him.

Albus turned his head ever so slightly so that he was looking into Rose's eyes. He smiled tightly.

"Yeah."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Rose could remember the exact day that Albus had snapped. It was the middle of 5th year. Gabby and Albus had been dating for about 18 months and Albus was nervous. He had confided in Rose. Gabby had just turned 15 and Albus was worried that she'd want to have sex.

"I'm not ready," He had told Rose looking embarrassed and wild-eyed, sitting by the Gryffindor fire as people downed firewhiskey and danced around them to the steady bass of a mellow pop song coming from a magic boombox.

Gabby's party had been wild and Albus had disappeared after his talk with Rose(who had advised him that sex was definitely NOT the way to go if he wasn't comfortable), his friends pulling him over into a dark corridor, stuffing shots of drinks that were even stronger than firewhiskey into his hands.

Albus had gotten completely smashed that night at the hands of his friends and Gabby had told Rose the whole story afterwards. About how Albus had taken her to his dorm and they had sex and afterwards she left in a hurry, regretting her decision to give him her virginity.

The next morning, Rose watched as Gabby approached Albus, who shook his head slowly, silently telling her that he couldn't even remember the events of anything that night. Gabby face had crumpled and she choked on her tears, running out of the great hall.

Albus broke. He retreated into himself, completely devastated. Gabby and Albus didn't talk anymore and Albus dumped his asshole friends who had peer pressured him into the sex. He was quieter now. He still joked and smiled, but he wasn't the same. He was sad all the time and his grades had started slipping. Now Rose held him in dark corners while he laid with his head in her lap, unspoken words of sympathy between them.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

After a rather unsuccessful tutoring session with Albus, Rose headed to the Gryffindor common room. She was on a mission. She dreaded it, but she had to get it done.

The Gryffindor common room was cozy with couches taking up the majority of the space in the room and multiple fireplaces emitting roars of heat and orange flickering flames. The whole entire room was draped in yellow and red and the smell of cinnamon and mint hot chocolate was strong in the air. There were a couple of 7th year boys sitting in the corner of the room, playing exploding snap and betting with poker chips.

Rose focused her attention on the center of the room, seeking out the person she was dreading speaking to.

Lily was, as usual, surrounded by multiple girl friends who were shrieking and tossing pillows at one another and boys roughhousing and flirting playfully with some of the other boys and girls.

"Lily." Rose's calm voice cut through the chaos and silence ensued.

Lily's face immediately closed off when she saw Rose's face.

"Hey Ro." She smiled tightly.

"I need to talk to you." Rose said quietly.

Lily's eyes narrowed and her lips thinned into two miniscule lines.

"Well, I'm not free at the moment. Maybe some other time." From her tone it was clear there would be no other time.

Rose tried again, her face bright red from embarrassment.

"I-well-you see-It's really….important." She wrung her fingers together and bit her lip, fidgeting nervously. She was aware of the 20 sets of eyes staring at her curiously.

Lily rolled her eyes, "We can talk tomorrow."

"But-"

"Later Rose."

She looked down casually at her nails then back up and glared around at her friends who quickly got the memo and went back to being loud. Lily quickly joined in, leaving Rose to stand dejectedly in front of the couch.

After a couple seconds of Rose opening and closing her mouth, debating whether or not to try and get Lily to talk to her, a voice behind her said, "RO!". James.

Rose turned to see James and Scorpius towering over her.

"James." She said, relieved-he always saved her from awkward situations. James smiled sweetly and pulled Rose into a hug, wrapping his arms around her head. Rose stood stiffly for a few moments before she slowly brought her hands up to clumsily pat his back.

"Hey! How are you Rose?" He pulled back and Rose sighed softly and looked to her right. James didn't seem to hear the breathy sigh, but Scorpius, who was standing right next to him and looking down at the floor, twitched slightly and his eyes drifted over to Rose. He smirked sheepishly and raised his eyebrows, as if she had caught him doing something mischievous. Then, (She almost missed it because it happened so quickly) he winked. Rose felt herself blush. She looked quickly back up at James, who didn't seem to notice the small interaction.

"Um, I'm good. I guess." She said airiy. James nodded. "So why are you here? Come to see me?" He wiggled his eyebrows goofily. Rose giggled.

"No, I came to see Lily. But she's busy so.." Rose trailed off, looking at the couch off to the far left where Lily was immersed in a game of exploding snap.

"Oh." James shook his head. "Well, do you want to hang out with me instead?" He looked excited by the prospect. He never got to see Rose much and she was his favorite cousin.

Rose felt panicky. "Oh. Well. Aren't you hanging out with Scorpius though?" She said quickly, directing the attention towards the blonde-headed boy.

James frowned, a strand of curly hair falling into his face. "You don't mind, do you Scorp?"

Scorpius didn't even bat an eyelash, "Nah we're good."

James nodded. "See he doesn't mind. Besides, aren't you guys patrol buddies and teammates? You should become friends so that you have something to talk about." Rose nodded slowly. "Yes. I mean," She paused, choosing her words carefully. "I suppose." She looked over at Scorpius whose gray eyes were staring intelligently at her through his glasses. "It couldn't hurt." As soon as she said it, Rose felt a weird burst of feeling in the pit of her stomach and she wondered if she had just made a horrible mistake.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"So how's school going?" James flopped onto a plaid-covered fluffy bed while simultaneously stuffing a piece of toast into his mouth.

Rose, who was standing stiffly in the doorway of the room, said, "Um, good." She was still standing awkwardly in the doorframe a few moments later when Scorpius put a hand on her shoulder. Rose's stomach jolted. He leaned down, seeming completely at ease. She could smell his aftershave-something spicy and mango. She inhaled as much of if as she could.

"You can come in you know." His voice was quiet and low. She liked the way it he spoke to her, soft and gently, like he was paying full attention to what he was saying to her.

Rose frowned, 'What?" Her head was reeling and she felt slightly confused and overwhelmed by the smell of spices and mango.

"You don't have to stand there. Girls are allowed in boys dormitories. Come sit down." He had a teasing lilt now in his voice and his eyes were sparkling underneath his glasses. He was so close she could study his dimples and the angle of his cheekbones that reached the top of his glasses.

He moved his hand from her shoulder to her elbow now, leading her (she seemed to be in a daze) to the bed and sitting down next to her, the spring squeaking from the weight of 3 grown teenagers. James's eyebrows were raised and he was looking weirdly at Scorpius from where he was sprawled out with a mouthful of half-chewed toast. Rose ignored the look and rested a small hand on James's leg.

"Your Mum told me to make sure you're getting your homework done." She said jokingly.

James grinned, his weird expression morphing into a mouthful of blazing white teeth.

"And what have you been telling her?"

"That you're going to get Os on all your NEWTS this year."

"That's my girl. Dang it though, she probably gonna murder me when she realizes I'm not even taking NEWTS in most of my classes. Man, I swear you are so lucky Rose. I want your memory so bad. You too Scorpius. I don't get how you both are able to be on the Quidditch team, be prefects, and still be at the top of the class. Seriously, how do you do it?" James looked slightly frustrated and Rose knew why. James always struggled to keep his grades up and he envied Scorpius and Rose's superb memories.

Scorpius grinned slyly, "Magic" he stage-whispered.

James groaned, "That was not a good joke."

"Okay, okay fine. It honestly isn't that hard. I mean I guess it isn't that hard."

James pouted, "Easy for you to say. I can't seem to get transfiguration down for my-" James stopped talking abruptly.

"Oh bloody 'ell!" James stood up from the bed quickly, looking extremely panicked.

"What?" Scorpius looked up concerned from the bed.

"I. I gotta go. I gotta go now!" James fumbled through his bag and pulled out a rumbled piece of paper and then he was running towards the door but stopped at the threshold.

"I have a meeting with Mcgonagall I forgot. Just…..wait there or whatever. It should take like half an hour." Then he was gone.

Scorpius shrugged. "Typical James." Rose nodded quietly. It was typical of James to rush off at random moments, he was pretty forgetful-he and Hugo both.

"So… You coming to Quidditch tryouts today?" Scorpius looked at her hopefully and Rose smiled shyly.

"Um, I kind of have to right? I mean, I'm on the team so I have to be there."

Of course she's going to be there you stupid arse. Scorpius mentally kicked himself.

He smiled charmingly however, "Well that's good then. Can't pick the new team members before seeing how they fly with our star chaser."

Rose turned a deep red when he said the last bit.

"Oh, that's not true." She whispered sheepishly.

"Yes it is." He said evenly. "Without you, our team would be dead."

Rose shook her head and bit her lip.

"You're doing it again."

Scorpius's head snapped in her direction.

"Wait….I'm doing what again?"

Rose had frozen, her lips parted slightly and her eyes wide with embarrassment. She was staring at the comforter, deliberately not looking at Scorpius.

"Nothing." She traced over the plaid woolen pattern with her fingertips.

"No, you said I was doing 'it' again. What's it."

Scorpius leaned down so his face was close to hers. He placed his fingers on her chin and gently pushed her head up so that her eyes mets his. Blue against gray, hearts beating rapidly in their chest, they held gazes intensely.

"What were you going to say?" Scorpius breathed quietly. His airy words penetrated the deathly silence. Rose's face was still a rosy red, her skin hot beneath his cool fingers. He was glad he couldn't blush because then they'd both be doomed.

Rose was the one to break the stare, turning her head to the side and looking down, causing Scorpius's hand to drop back down to the bed.

She sighed.

"You always do it."

"Do what?"

"Underestimate yourself. You always underestimate yourself." Rose was looking straight past Scorpius at the hardwood floors. She seemed a little sad from the way her shoulders were hunched up around her neck.

Scorpius shook his head, "What...do you mean?"

Rose didn't move an inch. Her voice came out strangled and defeated.

"It's just….you never." She seemed to be searching for the right words. "Okay." She took in a deep breath then began speaking so quickly, Scorpius had trouble keeping up.

"In quidditch you alway downplay the move you do whenever someone compliments you no matter how hard it was, and in class you always know the right answer but you never answer anyway. And you seem to weird around James. I know you know his relationship with Sophie isn't a good one but you won't tell him because you think you know nothing about relationships anyway. And all the girls flirt with you and you always let them down easy which just makes them fall in love with you more. And you never seem to notice that people just gravitate towards you because you're charming and friendly and nice. And whenever people complain about grades and teachers and school being hard you join in and talk about how you don't understand anything to make them feel better even though everyone knows you're one of the top students. And I just…..I don't. I don't get it. I mean everyone loves you. But you still don't seem to realize how much of an impact you have on other people. I don't know exactly why yet. I'm still….figuring you out." Rose looked frustratedly at the floor. Her face was a bright rosy red.

Scorpius's jaw had dropped open sometime during her long monoloque and he quickly collected himself. This was probably the longest and most personal thing Rose had ever said to him. And she had watched him. She had paid attention to him. He smiled in spite of himself.

Rose saw and looked confused. "What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing. I just found it funny because you're the same way."

Rose looked at Scorpius incredulously. "What are you talking about?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes, "Everything you just said about me also applies to yourself."

Rose self consciously touched her hair bun, smoothing out the flyaways on the sides of her head. She looked perplexed.

"That's not true."

Scorpius chuckled, surprising himself.

"Yes it is. You only say the answer unless a teacher calls on you and you never talk about your accomplishments or brag about anything. You even go out of your way to avoid people who would give you shit about it. Probably why you avoid me like the plague."

Rose sputtered softly, "I don't avoid you like the plague!"

Scorpius skeptically raised an eyebrow at Rose's defeated face, "Um, you do know we haven't actually held a normal conversation until today."

Rose scrambled for words, her "Maybe because I don't have many normal conversations on a daily basis. I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't really talk to a lot of people, you just….happen to be one of the many people who I don't talk to." She finished with a whisper and Scorpius wondered absentmindedly if she ever got angry-he had never heard her raise her voice before.

"I'm your favorite cousin's best friend, I've been on the quidditch team with you for 4 years, I've been a prefect with you for 2, I spend Christmas AND New Year's Eve at your Grandma's house where you sleep down the hall from me, I'm in all your classes, and we've been potions partners in our 2nd and 4th years here. You have every excuse to talk to me and no reason not to. I should be in that special group of what is it? 15 people that you talk to? But I'm not and I'm a little bit confused as to why I'm not." Scorpius smiled bemusedly. He cocked his head and seemed to think, "Actually now that I think about it, I'm actually a little insulted."

Rose looked entirely flabbergasted. She choked over her words, they struggled to come out.

"Well, I mean, so. Um." She winced and forced herself to calm down. "Basically, what I got from that I mean, is that you want to be friends." She said it like a question, tilting her head sideways, a shy expression on her face.

Scorpius jerked his head back, taken aback at her straightforwardness-he had always thought it'd be so much harder.

"Well I mean, yeah. I guess." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Yeah that would make sense. And I would want that. I mean, I'd like that." He paused and realization dawned in his brain that she hadn't agreed to actually being friend.

"I mean only if you want to."

He glanced at her hopefully.

There was a moment of silence.

"Okay."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The word of the day for Dominique was vexed. Also known as angry, irritated, cross, tremendously annoyed. Yes Dominique was vexed. She was extremely vexed.

"I am not wearing a seashell pink bridesmaid dress to Victoire's wedding. No way." Dominique whined to Rose over a cup of pumpkin juice. She groaned in frustration, "I mean, I look horrible in pink, it drains out my complexion and it's a sucky color. Can't I go in black instead? It's so much classier. What if I wear like a lighter black? Like a grey to make it look less like a funeral. That'd look okay right? I mean it's better that soft seashell pink right Rose? Rose? Rose! ROSE!"

Dominique picked up a stray piece of toast from a leftover lunch plate and launched it across the Ravenclaw breakfast table, where it landed in the spine of Rose's arithmancy textbook that she was completely engrossed in.

"Rose, please say pink is a sucky color."

Rose didn't look up from her textbook. She moved the piece of toast back onto the table.

"Pink is a sucky color." She frowned at her textbook.

"Thank you. I mean you obviously aren't paying attention but still, thanks. I'm not wearing pink. But I can't tell Victoire that. I want everything to be perfect for her. It's her wedding afterall. So I guess I have to wear it. ARGH BUT I REALLY DON'T WANT TO. All the other bridesmaids are blonde, that's why. They're going to look amazing and I'm going to look half dead. Of course I had to have brown hair, why couldn't I have been blonde? I officially hate my hair. Do you think I should dye it back to blonde? Like how it was in 4th year? Everyone said I looked pretty? Plus I heard guys always like blondes better. Maybe I could do highlight? What do you think? Argh why am I even talking to you, you're reading and you can read through anything."

Halfway through Dominique's rant, Rose snapped her textbook shut and quickly stood up, earning a disgruntled sigh from across the table. Rose began packing up her books.

"Victoire isn't going to make you wear pink. She'll take one look at you in the dress and immediately trash the whole idea. Tell her to let you wear navy blue, it goes with all the other bridesmaids and you look nice in it. Plus it'll contrast with her white wedding dress nicely. The wedding is on a beach so the nautical colors will fit with the theme. And don't dye your hair because you look beautiful with dark hair. It goes with your eyes and your freckles and boys like brown hair too. Like the cute teacher's assistant who carried you to the hospital wing that keeps glancing at you. He probably likes your hair. Maybe that's why he's staring, he's mesmerized. Oh yes, I'm leaving by the way, I have an arithmancy question to ask a peer because I don't feel like doing this myself. I'll see you later."

Rose leaned over and kissed Dominique's forehead before walking briskly off, leaving Dominique with her mouth hanging open.

Slowly, she closed her mouth and smiled.

"She was listening. Dang how does she do that?"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Question: What's more awkward than running into your ex?"

Answer: Your ex running into you.

Gabby was on the floor. She was on the floor and she was wet. And gross. It smelled like mold. From where she lay, she could see the stone ceiling of the dungeons-icy water was dripping from some of them onto the stone floors. A droplet hanging from the tip of a stone gargoyles wings broke free and dropped down onto the tip of Gabby's nose. She groaned, her head was throbbing.

"I'm so so so sorry." She felt a pair of arms reach around her and pull her to her feet.

She stumbled, disorientated. Hands were around her waist and she turned to see her helpers face, only to see the bright green eyes of.

"Albus." She groaned again and closed her eyes. She opened her eyes. Nope, still there. She groaned a third time.

Albus looked as awkward as she felt.

"Um, can you stand?" His hands were still supporting her.

Gabby nodded and he let go hesitantly, waiting for her to fall again.

Gabby mentally punched herself over and over and over again.

Why me why me why me why me?

"Why me?" She was met with a long silence and an awkward cough.

She blushed. I said that allowed, didn't I?"

Albus nodded, "Yeah, you did." Gabby sighed knowing this wasn't going to end well, "Look, I'm sorry-"

"Don't be."

"No, really I am-"

"Can we talk?"

"What?"

"Yes?"

"Yes….what?"

"What did you want to say?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said 'what'"

"Yes? What about that?"

"What did you want to say?"

"Nothing."

"Okay….so can we talk."

"Um, no."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because what?"

"Because I don't have time."

"You have time now."

"No I don't."

"You right here."

"No I'm not."

"Yes. You are."

"Not anymore."

"Gabby please-"

"BYE!"

She sprinted up the dungeon stairs two at a time, leaving behind an exasperated Albus and a confused bunch of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw potions students. It wasn't until she rounded the statue of the witch with the funky hat on the third floor did she stop running and sink to the marble floor, leaning her back against the witches stone robes. She was breathing heavily and muttering words of assurance to herself when she realized she was skipping her potions class.

"Fuck."


End file.
